5G Coverage In Buildings Is Improving—Here's Why

Forbes

07-07-2025

Manish Tiwari, Head of Enterprise 5G for Ericsson Enterprise Wireless Solutions, has worked in networking for over 30 years.
Even as an executive of a leading wireless networking company, I will admit that achieving cellular coverage in buildings can be a bit of an adventure.
As consumers, we feel it. We go to a school or a large retail store and can't access our apps or maintain a video call. Sometimes, even text messaging is up in the air. I travel quite a bit, and airports often are some of the worst places for cellular coverage. You're left either rolling the dice with the overtaxed guest Wi-Fi network or simply doing without.
As a business, you see and hear about it. Customers complain. Loyalty apps falter. Even the ability to place a 911 call during an emergency can be affected, putting safety at risk and making the company liable.
To make matters worse, you've probably noticed that usage of cellular for video and other bandwidth-ravenous applications isn't falling or even staying flat. It's exploding.
For a while now, the best response to this conundrum has been distributed antenna systems, or DAS. Companies have found a new option worth considering, though. Small cell neutral host solutions offer an intriguing combination of coverage, performance, efficiency and scalability.
Enterprises take indoor cellular coverage into their own hands.
For many years, the indoor cellular model looked something like this: Organizations purchased enterprise data plans from cellular operators, who invested heavily in macro infrastructure. Simple enough. However, something changed: our habits. A prodigious influx of cellular-connected devices and high-bandwidth applications—especially during the Covid-19 pandemic—created unprecedented demand for excellent cellular coverage in buildings.
It's an understandable shift of expectations and needs. Think about hospitals, for instance. Patients, families and staff have important phone calls to make, but many of these older buildings with thick walls and lots of machinery are rife with cellular coverage challenges.
Also, consider education buildings, ranging from high schools to college classroom buildings. Potential attacks and other emergencies have made 911 calling a necessity for safety. Spotty coverage is no longer an acceptable option.
This rapid shift in cellular usage forced carriers to become more selective about where and to what extent they invest in infrastructure inside buildings. This put more responsibility on individual enterprises to become, well, "enterprising." Some tried cell boosters—basically the use of an amplifier to better pass the macro network signal from outside to inside. But this solution only scales to about 50,000 square feet.
Other businesses deployed passive DAS solutions. But this requires extensive infrastructure additions. Plus, passive DAS is problematic because it generally only supports 4G.
With 5G in mind, organizations embraced active DAS to improve public cellular coverage in their buildings, stores, hospitals and other challenging spaces. DAS is a neutral host technology, meaning that its infrastructure can support multiple network operators, which ensures coverage for virtually any guest or employee.
DAS has helped many companies boost coverage and improve user experience. But this technology presents challenges, too. Active DAS has to convert the signal from analog to digital, which requires lots of cables, connectors, racks and power supply equipment. This also drives up monthly heating, cooling and energy costs.
In short, DAS isn't very scalable, not in terms of time to deployment, cost-effectiveness or ongoing management.
A new neutral host option gives more control.
Many organizations now choose small cells deployed as neutral host networks instead of legacy DAS architecture. This actually utilizes the same infrastructure that cellular operators use, but inside instead of outdoors. Thus, a small cell neutral host fosters the best possible performance, but with a lot less hardware and cabling than is necessary with DAS. Less to deploy. Less to troubleshoot. Lower opex costs.
DAS equipment occupies more space than small cell neutral host equipment and uses much less power. Plus, Ericsson's Radio Dot System, for instance, can scale to more than 10 million square feet, which is particularly important in places like indoor arenas, campus buildings, manufacturing plants and warehouses.
Small cell neutral host solutions can give enterprises more control than they've ever enjoyed and equip them well for future phases of cellular network evolution.
Ask the right questions to address potential challenges.
Of course, every solution has its challenges. It's important to have a sound plan based on ROI-related factors and to ask the right questions in advance.
There are many cost factors to weigh when choosing an indoor coverage solution. Initially, small cell solutions can cost more than legacy DAS systems. So, the latter might be a good option for a business that only needs medium-grade performance and doesn't plan to scale up for a long time, if ever.
On the other hand, enterprises that need advanced capabilities and exceptional signal quality may choose a small cell neutral host, which supports higher performance and multiple operators without adding much infrastructure.
Capex and opex, too. Capex investments in racks, hardware, cabling, uninterruptible power supply units and other infrastructure add up quickly. From a long-term perspective, opex considerations regarding power consumption, physical space occupied and retuning fees are important.
The design phase of a neutral host deployment is critical, involving detailed floor plans and careful site walk tests to measure coverage gaps and identify existing assets that could be leveraged. This helps lock in the best spots for each radio, finalize the headend layout and fine-tune all other parts of the architecture.
You'll need a go-to partner who has agreements and strong relationships with the major carriers, although the carriers can lead the implementation process, too.
Partners help you navigate spectrum and radio complexities, address common neutral host challenges and remove friction throughout the solution lifecycle.
Enterprises that deploy a small cell neutral host today will be situated nicely for years to come. It's an easily scalable architecture that can accommodate whatever exciting changes are on the horizon.
As consumers, we expect more. Enterprises should, too.
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